Echoes of Yesterday
by NormanWhitesmith
Summary: A ripple goes through the Portrait family as a new amnesic ghost is found, covered in strange markings. Todd has to frantically find out the truth of everything, including himself, before destruction comes upon his new family. Meanwhile, Mario is investigating an inopportune disappearance.
1. Chapter One- Murmurs

_It is I, Norman Whitesmith, back again. This is a collaboration I'm doing with Rockster and I hope you enjoy. But as a quick side note, both chapters one and two are up because the chapters alternate perspective between the two main characters and chapter one's protagonist is an OC. Chapter two is about Mario, but don't skip chapter one because it's still really important. And since chapter one and two are being posted together, this is the author's note for both of them. But before we get on with the story, here's a word from Rockster, my co-author:_

 **Yo, I'm Rockster! I am very excited and glad to be collaborating with Norman here, and I am very nervous as well since this is my first fanfic I ever wrote. Compared to Norman, my writing skill is not as good as him. As a side note, you can still find me in the review section and read what I had in mind about the chapters themselves. I will also read all the review in here too, so feel free to comment away. Anyw** **ay, I hope you all enjoy the story!**

 _And Rockster also illustrated this, but unfortunately, this site doesn't support photos so you can't see them. But no matter, so without further ado, here is chapter one of Echoes of Yesterday._

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Chapter One- Murmurs

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A cold breeze blew through old cracks in the wall, causing the occupant of the room to shudder. Todd could only lay on his bed and stare up at the ceiling. Unfamiliar, new, and scary. The steady drops of water from the outside rainfall sang of life for the world, but only confusion and even possibly despair for Todd. The man had been laying on the bed in his new room for about an hour, contemplating what his very existence meant. He was supposedly dead, but couldn't remember anything since waking up in the house about three hours ago. Though that rubbed him wrong from the start, it was the suspicious whispers from the others just after he came to that confirmed his quickly made hypothesis that he shouldn't be there.

But whatever that meant, he was here now and that must mean something. Todd held up his hand and with his index finger traced the red chain marks that wrapped around his shirt, unearthly and giving off a soft red glow. Upon further inspection, he could also see through himself very easily. With a slight stretch, Todd finally started to get off the bed, ready to meet his new family-or at least that's what they called themselves before they showed him to his room that he could inhabit. Todd swung his feet over the edge of the bed before leaning his weight on them, only to realize that he was lacking in the feet department and fell back onto the bed, partially phasing through it. Todd quickly regained his composure and simply floated away from the bed before hovering in place over the floor, staring at the light blue tail that replaced where his feet should have been. Whoever he used to be must have been alive at some point, after all, he was so instinctually ready to use limbs people had when they were alive.

Todd decided to look at himself one final time before heading out of his room and floated over to the mirror perched atop a decaying nightstand, the mirror surprisingly clear and reflective for its decaying surroundings. The man in the mirror simply stared back at Todd, unnatural and unearthly features looking him right back in the face.

His skin was a very pale blue that screamed of death, complemented nicely by his shocking blue eyes that gave off a soft glow. Along his face were chain marks much like the ones that covered his body, glowing red and clashing with the blue of his skin. But what was most shocking was a glowing green lightning bolt shape that was on display on his cheek.

Another sigh escaped Todd. Truth be told, he was only rescued very recently and still couldn't make sense of what was happening to him. Nothing about this seemed right to him, but there was not much Todd could do about it. He could only carry on.

After looking away from his reflection, Todd began to float towards the door, ready to exit and meet the people who took him in and get to know them better. It was then that Todd realized that he was a ghost and didn't need to use doors, being able to go intangible making things much more interesting. Todd quickly began to sink through the floors of the house, but abruptly stopped when he heard voices.

"Biff, I still can't believe you brought that thing in," A feminine voice stated curtly.

"I agree, this may be a trap. The fellow supposedly doesn't even remember anything, yet he isn't a Boo. I'm calling bull here and now. He's got to be lying," a male voice sounded.

A short silence followed before a voice with a slight German accent, though slanged, answered.

"Why must ya torture dis poor man with ya bad thoughts? Something is definitely not right 'ere and I have a hunch he has nothing ta do with it. I found him chained to the ground in a field not far from 'ere. He is a new ghost; I could see it by his tail that is still a light blue instead of darkened with age, and he must already be goin' through some turmoil."

The female voice started again. "But what of those strange markings on him and how he barely reacted when he was told to be dead? The only thing he did other than having a panicked expression for a moment was asked who grabbed him."

"If anything, that'll prove 'im innocent. Although the unwritten rules state that without memories, a ghost is a Boo, the strange markings on 'im may mark an exception. Do ya remember ya own death?"

"Of course I do, Biff! That may have been one hundred years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday!"

"Rememba how frightenin' it was ta find yaself suddenly dead along with da rest of us?"

"Of course! If I didn't have the family around to help me, I don't know what I would have done!"

"Well dis man has no family. He don't even have memories of life. He has nothin'. The least we can do is be 'is family, and who cares if he acting weird? People cope in different ways. After all, when I found 'im, he had fear and sadness on his face, sleeping even when I saw 'im, and it reminded me of all of us afta death. We already gave 'im a name so he had a sense of self, but now we need to build on self so that he has an identity. Family alone can do dat."

Todd remembered through the haze he was in after first waking up and getting the name Todd. It was given to him by the butler because, as he explained, the lightning bolt on his cheek looked like the first Royal Crest of the Mushroom Kingdom before it was changed to the iconic mushroom. King Todd was the one to use it on account of him being a powerful lightning magic user and being the first King, ushering in the most prosperous times the world had ever seen. Although everyone else was in agreement that this ghost definitely wasn't the one and only King Todd, they felt the name Todd to be fitting.

"I'm gonna take my leave now," stated Biff as he flew off through a wall.

Todd didn't realize he was even floating downwards until he was practically face to face with the back of the chair the woman was sitting in. Upon getting closer to the floor, the eyes of the two remaining occupants in the room shifted over to him with hardness and suspicion within, but after a few seconds of scanning Todd and his face with their glowing yellow eyes, they softened up, showing kindness and an urge to help.

"Hey hon, how are you doing?" asked the woman. "Is your room satisfactory?"

Todd gave a small nod.

"Oh, you probably don't even remember or know our names! That's got to be awkward. Well, I'll help you out; The name's Neville. Neville Portrait. And that beauty over there is my wife, Lydia Portrait. There are many others, but let's just start you off with us two. You'll have time to meet all the others and learn their names. You have an eternity, after all!"

Todd didn't know how to feel about that last part and could only keep his silence and stare on.

"You don't really talk much, do you?" asked Lydia.

"Well, not if there's nothing to say," replied Todd, holding his gaze evenly with Lydia and Neville.

A long silence ensued after that, making everything awkward.

"Do you by chance know where Biff went?" asked Todd, looking for a way to escape the situation, though masking that eloquently with a steady question.

"Why yes, dearie. If you go down the hall to your left and take a right at your first chance, you should find the gym, Biff's favorite haunt. Either do that or float through the walls. But I think the hallways would be more beneficial to use so you can get an idea where everything is, alright? Besides, there are still a lot of people to meet and you just might meet them."

Todd began to float away down the suggested hallway. "Thank you very much, Mrs. Portrait."

"Oh, it's no problem honey. And call me Lydia. After all, we're your family now!"

Todd floated down the hall in contemplation. Although it felt nice to be a part of the family, a larger part of Todd told him that he didn't fit in. A sudden yell pulled Todd from his thoughts and he was brought back to alertness. The yell came from a door just to the left of him. A knock on the door was made along with the question of "Are you alright?"

After two voices inside responded with "help me", Todd quickly rushed in to find two boys, twins, cowering in fear in the corner of what appeared to be their room.

"A g-giant rat came through here and is under our beds!" squeaked one of the boys.

"All that hubub over a rodent?"

The boys quit being scared for a fraction of a second, enough time to shoot a sharp glare at Todd.

"The thing's giant! I bet you'd be scared too!" replied the other child.

"I seriously doubt that," stated Todd as he floated over to the bed. Now was Todd especially enthusiatic to meet this alleged giant rat? Not really. But was he going to let the boys see that? No, not at all.

Todd shoved his arm underneath the bed and felt it close around a cold other-worldly form, and started to pull it out. The boys weren't kidding when they described this thing as giant and it wasn't surprising that they were scared of this ghostly pest, due to it having glowing red eyes that seemed unnatural and shook you to the core.

"Here it is, boys. And I'm going to put him outside where he won't bother you anymore. Now get back to playing," stated Todd rather flatly as he started floating through the walls of the room to the outdoors to free the creepy thing, the chorus of thanks coming from the not-so-young boys carrying him along as he went. Soon the rat was gone and Todd went back inside to resume his search for Biff.

The overall condition of the place clearly showed that no living mortal had inhabited it for some time, though various noises throughout behind closed doors suggested that in a way, the old place was full of a sort of life. Todd still didn't quite know what to make of being dead. That meant his life was over more or less, according to the general perception of death, yet here he was. Todd realized it was one of the things it was better not to think too much about and promptly emptied his mind of it. It was when the sound of metal hitting a pad reached Todd's ears that he knew he reached the gym. Todd cautiously peeked his head around the corner to look at Biff doing reps, his form somewhat flickering with exhaustion. Out of the corner of his eyes, Biff noticed Todd and gave him a warm smile.

"Eyyy, look who's up and floatin around," said Biff as he set down his equipment he was using and went over to Todd. "So what can I do ya for?"

Silence followed for a second as Todd gathered his thoughts, thinking of what to say. Although he didn't exactly set out to ask Biff a question, he really did want an answer to something that was nagging him.

"Why did you save me?" asked Todd.

Biff paused for a moment before answering. "Ya know... the afterlife is one of doze funny things. It can come out of nowhere and it is really frightnin' at first. Dere are more questins than answers, really. I remember when I had first died how scared I was, yet it was because of family that I made a 'life' out of dis. When I saw ya, I just saw all doze questins on your face, and I knew you needed a family ta stabilize."

Todd didn't know what to say. He still had a lot to think about.

"Can I go outside?" asked Todd suddenly.

Biff looked up from the equipment that he went back over to. "Well of course ya can! This isn't some type of prison, you're free ta do whatcha want. Just pick a wall and go outside."

Todd nodded before taking off through the nearest wall, leaving Biff shaking his head.

"Dat is one odd fella. Not much for talkin, I tell ya."

Todd shuddered as he went straight through the wall into the outdoors, solidifying once more as raindrops fell from the sky, covering him. It was as if the sky were mourning something and crying. It was a beautiful sight with an indescribable music playing as Todd stared at the rain pattering through the forest. Feeling a sudden burst of joy, Todd flew up as far as he could, the mansion far below him as he admired the view of the world around him. It was dawn and a kingdom of sorts far off was beginning its day. Todd saw many things from a man leaving his house with a speck of a green cap on his head to tiny dots that were children playing an early morning game of tag in the park.

Todd for the first time since he woke up smiled as the sun's rays warmed him. It was when Todd realized that he was feeling a bit light-headed and that his body was slowly getting more transparent and less tangible, making it clear he couldn't stay out in the sun too long without putting his existence on the line. But no matter, Todd enjoyed his short time outside and was ready to get on his bed again, falling asleep to the dripping of the water against the leaves of trees.

 _Please leave a review!_


	2. Chapter Two- Shadows

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Chapter Two- Shadows

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The heavy slamming of the oak front door of my house echoed throughout the house's surroundings, causing a few birds to panic and flutter away. I felt sad and confused more than angry, to be perfectly honest, but the look on my face would suggest otherwise. Was it really so wrong for me to want to be independent for once and move out to sustain myself?

I shook away the angry thoughts that still flooded my mind, realizing that if I wanted to cool down, I'd have to stop thinking about all this. I would simply have to accept that there are some things Mario wouldn't understand and it would take time for him to accept the way things are. With this new resolve, I began to walk, even letting the traces of a smile flit across my face as I took in the beauty of creation. Things were especially glorious this particular morning because a storm had just passed very recently, yet it was still fairly clear out and the sun created a most brilliant pastel pallet of colors as it began its very early morning ascent into the sky. Truly, it was enough to light up anybody's day and put them into a good mood.

I continued my walk, not even realizing that my feet were taking me to the castle until I noticed that I was at the outskirts of the tiny town surrounding the castle. Toad Town is a very nice little village that always seems to be quiet and content, filled with peace loving Toads that would be happy to give you the very vest off their backs if it meant making you happy like them.

I waved hello to the children playing in the park, watching them wave back with no idea in the slightest of who I am. It is always funny how nobody can remember one of the most common Italian names there is, yet there are even multiple pizza parlors in the Mushroom Kingdom that bear my name that everyone seems to remember. While it undeniably hurts a bit, it's best for me to keep going.

My footsteps echoed through the empty streets of Toad Town's main square, the constant steady clomps reverberating off of the classically designed cobblestone buildings. It was too early for any of the shops to be open, yet the pleasant silence always seemed welcoming compared to the crowds that would flood this very place in less than two hours.

A sudden ring of a bell on a shop door drew my attention and I found that the antique shop had just opened! Considering that I always found something interesting inside when I browsed, I decided to look around before perhaps seeing the princess and asking her for advice. As per usual, I found something calling out to me and I got it before heading off to the castle.

The walk was pleasant with the sun peaking out from behind the clouds and giving everything a vibrant pastel hue. A single buzzing bee flew by, singing of new life as I reached the open gates to the castle. Upon making it inside the large door to the castle, I found myself face to face with Toadsworth, who looked very stressed.

"So much to do, so much to do," I heard him muttering under his breath before he looked up and noticed me. "Oh! Master Luigi! What are you doing here?"

"W-well-"

I was cut off instantly as Toadsworth went all over my mistake of stuttering.

"Master Luigi, you musn't stutter!"

"B-but Toadsworth, I a-always stutter. It's just how I t-talk."

"Master Luigi, I would give you the lecture of a lifetime about how you could easily overcome your speech impediment, but unfortunately I'm very busy at the moment. I'm assuming you're here for business, so out with it."

After quickly and silently thanking Grambi that I wouldn't have to sit through one of Toadsworth's famous lectures, I quickly stated my business.

"M-Mario and I got into a fight and I w-want to talk to the p-princess."

Toadsworth sighed. "Unfortunately, the princess is busy right now, but if you go and sit down in one of the chairs next to the stairs on the second floor, you'll see her once she's done with the meeting she's in. Now I have to go, so don't touch anything and sit in that chair until you see the princess."

Toadsworth rushed off before I had a chance to reply to his last responses. Afterwards, I quickly walked into the castle to assume my place. The inside always astonished me. Everything from the elegant marble floors, to the high ceilings with decorative carvings covering each square inch of the wall. The castle was old, yet fitted with modern appliances such as electricity, in order to make it more comfortable. The blend of old and new were in perfect harmony and were the most beautiful things in the world to look at.

After finding my chair I was to sit it, I heard the most peculiar scratching noise. It is probably Bowser. Though he is surprisingly stealthy for a giant turtle, he does make mistakes. Time to investigate that noise.

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Running through the empty road in Toad Town, Mario had a frantic look frozen on his face, looking left and right for his little brother. He noticed that the peaceful town was not as lively like it usually was, but he didn't think about that too long. It was clear in his mind that he must find Luigi as soon as possible.

His eyes scanned throughout the town, looking for the green clothing that belonged to his brother, but to his disappointment, the familiar shade of green was nowhere to be found. His mind recalled that very morning where he fought with Luigi, recollecting how insensitive he was to him. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, mentally blaming himself for how foolish he was.

"Mario!" a yell startled him out of his thoughts.

Mario whipped his head around and stopped his movement, searching for the origin of the voice. His eyes eventually fell on a creature with a blue vest and a mushroom head.

"Finally, I found you! Mario, please come with me now! It's important!" Toad exclaimed with a panicked look on his face.

"What is it this time, Toad?" Mario snapped with an annoyed tone dominant in his voice. He swore that every time a Toad appeared, there was always some bad news that came along with it, or maybe the Toad wanted him to do some sort of errand. "I am sorry, but I am very busy now. If it is about-"

"No time to dwell on it now! You got to see this!" Toad cut Mario off and suddenly grabbed Mario's right hand, yanking him along.

"R-release me!" Mario tried to free his hand, but to no avail as Toad had him in an iron death grip. He had forgotten that Toad had an immense strength despite his small size. He guessed that the term 'don't judge a book by its cover' is true. He was forced to run on the tip of his toes as Toad was running on his top speed, dragging Mario at the same time without breaking a sweat. Sometimes Mario had to wonder why if the Toads were usually this fast and strong, why did Princess Peach always get kidnapped when she had a lot of Toad guards in her castle? Well, then again most of the Toads ARE cowards…

As they were quickly approaching the boundary of the woods near Peach's Castle, Mario put on his brakes by stomping both of his feet on the grass, allowing the soles' fiction to force Toad to slow down to a stop. He twisted his hand roughly out of Toad's grip.

"Stop pulling me!" snarled Mario with a clear anger tone in his voice. His eyes bore into Toad like a Chain Chomp trying to bite the head off of its victim murderously, causing Toad to unconsciously flinch and take a step back. "Look! I am very busy finding Luigi now! I can look at this 'thing' later, so would YOU leave me alone?!"

"I am sorry about this, Mario, but it is very important for you come with me," Toad apologized with tinge of sadness and fear in his voice, his eyes looking down at his shoes. "I-it's about your brother, Luigi."

As soon as the words left Toad's mouth, Mario's mind turned blank and Mario instinctively grabbed Toad's vest harshly with both of his hands. Toad couldn't help but yelp as Mario glared at him with those widened, penetrating blue eyes.

"What happened to Luigi?! Tell me!" Mario growled in front of Toad's face.

Toad unconsciously swallowed his saliva and shut his eyes, afraid to answer Mario's question. However, he knew that Mario will not take silence as an answer, so he opened his eyes and regained his composure, ready to face Mario's tantrum. "I-I am afraid that I can't tell you yet, as this place is not suitable for me to answer your questions, Mario. You just have to follow me to the site where I want you to come."

Truth to be told, after hearing Toad talk about Luigi, Mario got a cold feeling in his heart. It felt like a blade made of ice touching the surface of his soul. He couldn't help but sense something very BAD must had happened to his little brother. He just silently wished that his gut was wrong.

They quickened their steps as they went deeper into the woods. The atmosphere gave everyone, including Mario, a chill down their spines. Six Toads with navy uniforms and black caps could be seen gathered at a spot, and their face seem to display sadness and nervousness. However, it was not them that caught Mario's eyes, it was the item behind the Toad officials were looking at.

Mario drifted past the Toads, ignoring everything else and only focus on the mess before him. "L-Luigi…?" murmured Mario with a shaky voice, his widened eyes started to fill with tears. He felt like thousands of icy cold blades stabbed into Mario heart, tearing his very soul apart. Mario's body started to tremble, frozen on the spot, confirming the item is none other than Luigi's signature green hat.

His legs buckled onto the grass with a thud, and his eyes couldn't leave the sight of the hat in front of him. Luigi's green hat was slightly charred, and the hat was at the center of a ring of burnt desolation.

The red-spotted cap Toad who led Mario wanted to comfort him, but he knew that his words would not reach Mario's ears. Instead, a middle-aged Toad with pencil-thin moustache walked up to Mario, putting his right hand on Mario's shoulder. "Mr. Mario, it is an honour to meet you, but I wish we could meet at a better occasion. As you can see here, I believe this is the truth… Your brother had met a terrible fate. I am truly sorry for that."

Unable to say anything, Mario just let his tears flow down to the green grass, his hand gripped onto the grass. A billion of thoughts ran through in his mind, processing the fact that Luigi was dead, but in his heart, he refused to think his brother was truly… dead.

"This is all my fault… I shouldn't have fought with Luigi in the first place… if it wasn't because of me, he wouldn't have even died…" His voice dropped down to a whisper, talking to no one particularly. Only the Toad beside him could heard what Mario said.

'No… Luigi can't be dead… his body is not here… he must be still alive.' He shook his head to clear the negative thoughts away. Staring at the burn marks on the hat and the area around it, one thought, no, one individual came to his mind.

'Bowser…'

Mario stood up abruptly, startling the Toad beside him. He clenched his fists in anger, and he squeezed his eyes shut in attempt to stop the tears. He used his hands to wipe the flowing tears and opened his eyes back up. His eyes showed an infuriated fire in it; his knuckles turned white.

He picked up the green hat on the singe grass and put it close to his chest. He pushed the Toad away from him forcefully and walked away from the scene, heading to a destination in mind. The remaining Toad officials receded out of Mario's pathway, afraid to know what will happen if they blocked him.

"Chief! Are you alright?" one of the Toad official cried out.

Dusting his uniform off, the chief answered, "I am fine, young lad." Eying at the faint red shape that was getting further away, his sad eyes filled with pity. "However, I don't think Mr. Mario is fine right now. He does need some time to accept the fact that his brother died. I did remember when my father died… it took a very long while for me get over it."

"Chief, do you really think that Mr. Luigi died? His corpse is not here," pointed out the other Toad official.

"For now, I can't really tell. There is not much evidence that he did died or still alive." Tipping his cap down to give a respect at the owner of the charred hat, he carried on, "only time and Grambi himself know what awaits for Mr. Mario and Mr. Luigi…"

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Sound of multiple splashes could be heard every step he took, Mario stormed his way through the road in the driving rain, glaring at the distant Bowser's castle that was slowly getting closer. The stingy cold wind didn't even falter Mario as he eyed the castle, imagining the evil tyrant with his evil laugher echoing throughout the castle's interior. A scene of his brother badly battered with severe burn marks all over his frail and feeble body flashed in Mario's vision, evoking Mario to hasten his track to the gloomy castle. There was going to be blood for this.

 _And that is it! Please review and tell us how we did. Give us your thoughts speculations, anything! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as we did writing it. Until chapter three, Norm out._


	3. Chapter Three- Whispers

Norman and Rockster are back again to bring you another chapter of Echoes of Yesterday. No author's note, really, so let's just dive right in. Please leave a review.

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Chapter Three- Whispers

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A loud creak was heard once Todd flopped down on his bed, almost panting from the amount of activity he was doing. After the first time going outside, Todd simply couldn't stay inside and felt the outdoors calling him. This was his fifth time going outside as long as he could, and almost disappearing multiple times did take its toll on him. But either way, though it was less than one hour since he started going outside, Todd felt satisfied with his outdoors time for the moment and was ready to take a short nap. Just as Todd's head met the mildewy pillow, a loud shriek from the hinges of his room's door almost shattered his hearing ability.

Todd, emitting a loud groan of annoyance, sat up and stared at the new comers. It was the twin boys and a little girl he had yet to meet. Though the girl had a sleepy look to her, it was clear by her jittering that she was anything but. The girl quickly floated over to Todd and poked his nose.

"Wow, you guys were right! He does kind of have a permanently grumpy look to his face!"

"Excuse me, what are you-" Todd got interrupted before finishing his question.

"Yeah, he looks like Uncle Grimmly!" giggled Henry

"Why are you coming into my room and insulting-"

"No, no, Uncle Grimmly only looks depressed, not angry. Besides, Todd's nose is too big. I'd say his face looks like Biff when we disturb him in the middle of a workout." Orville chirped.

"OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH INSULTS!" Todd practically screamed at the kids before noticing that they looked scared. Todd had floated up into the air in anger and had his fists clenched. "Look, sorry about that kids. I shouldn't have done that. Anyways, why did you come to see me?"

The little girl, clearly a drama queen who milks everything for what it's worth, answered with her bottom lip still quivering.

"M-mister Todd... we only wanted you to play with us..."

Todd sighed, relaxing a bit more as he floated down to get eye level with the girl. "Fine, to make up for my outburst, I'll play with you. But first, I need to know your name so I can address you properly."

The girl giggled before doing a small twirl. "My name is Sue Pea."

Todd chuckled a bit. "Sue Pea? Who the heck names their kid-"

"I KNOW IT'S A BIT DOPEY!" Sue screamed, eyes flashing red for a second, causing all three boys in the room to flinch. "Sorry... but let's show you where we're playing!"

Before Todd could as much as react, all three ghost children grabbed him and started dragging him through the wall of his room. The hallways started to rush by as the kids pulled him at a surprising speed before finally pulling him through a wall into what looked like an old nursery. Sue Pea quickly floated up to a crib in the room that had the faint shape of a ghost baby at the bottom, presumably sleeping.

"Oh Chauncey!" Sue whispered in a sing song voice.

"Kid- I mean Sue, are you sure you want to wake the baby up? Lydia and Neville probably won't be happy," Todd said as he almost flinched when he saw the baby float up from the bottom of the crib. "See! Now the baby is going to cry."

Sue turned to Todd with an odd look mixed with a smirk before turning to Chauncey. "Hey Chauncey, wanna play with the four of us?"

Todd felt his jaw drop as the baby took the pacifier out of his mouth and began to speak. "Oh dearest brethren and sister," Chauncey began with a deep hearty laugh, "what a pleasant surprise. And thee sees that thine hath wrought the new man hither. Regrettably, thee wants a nap, but be beseeched to have as thy calls it 'fun'."

"Okay,"replied Sue casually as Chauncey put his pacifier back into his mouth and sunk back down to the bottom of his crib. "And Todd, you might want to close your mouth before a ghost mouse crawls in there."

Todd quickly shut his mouth and desperately tried to regain a dignified air to himself. "And before I continue on," began Todd as he turned to the twin boys, "can you tell me who's Henry and who's Orville?"

The boy wearing blue and purple floated in front of Todd's face and glared at him. "Wow, you're pretty stupid. I always wear the color blue, which is easily affiliated with the car emblem of the Earth guy Henry Ford. So clearly, I'm Henry! Even Chauncey knows that!"

Todd snorted. "Well excuse me for not knowing something that nobody ever told me! And with Chauncey's old English vocabulary, it wouldn't surprise me if he knows that!"

Henry only glared as he backed away.

"Anyways," Orville piped up, "let's get to the library and start playing. We finally have enough people to play the game we want!"

Henry, clearly still somewhat upset for some reason sighed. "Okay. Let's go."

Once again, the kids snatched Todd's wrists and pulled him away into the hallway, Todd trying his best to master intangibility at will so his face didn't scrape the floor repeatedly. After a sudden stop, sending Todd straight into a library bookshelf, the kids began excitedly whispering to each other.

"Okay, kiddos, what do you want to play?" asked Todd, not caring too much and just wanting to get out of his situation.

Henry beamed. "We're going to play a game called Super Mario Brothers!"

Todd frowned. "Those three words in succession mean nothing to me. You're going to have to explain if you want me to play along."

"Why do you have to be such a dope to where we have to explain everything to you?" Orville asked, his arms crossed.

Todd was beginning to lose his patience. "Listen up, kid-"

"We've been ghosts for quite awhile, so technically speaking, we're older than you."

Todd felt his anger rising, slowly burning faster and hotter and tinting his vision red. Since talking to them, the kids have done nothing but insult him and disrespect him. Who did they think they were? A crackling feeling started coming from deep within, making Todd's hair stand on end, turning his hearing to a dull hum before realizing he was floating higher above the children, whose faces were frozen in infinite terror. It was then that Todd noticed the new burn marks on the floor.

"What have I done..." Todd whimpered, his voice barely a squeak as he looked on, scared, of what he did.

The twins, having clearly gotten over their fear, floated up to where Todd was.

"No way!" yelled Henry, "You were shooting out lightning and glowing green!"

"Yeah, that was way cool! Madame Clairevoya won't teach us any magic, so you gotta show us how you did that!" squeaked out Orville, too excited to contain himself.

Todd felt himself tremble as he sunk to the floor. "What was that?" He whispered, fear enveloping him, before Todd felt himself being poked by Henry and Orville, Sue joining them in the poking.

"Come on, get up! That was cool! If you're not going to do it again, please at least play with us like you promised," Sue whined.

Todd sat up straight. "S-so what was the game again."

The children, sensing Todd wanting to move on quickly away from the weird occurrence, happily started explaining. "Super Mario Brothers is about an Italian plumber named Mario who saves the world and the prettiest princess in the land because he's a hero. But, a giant turtle monster named Bowser tries to thwart the man's every step, so he teams up with his cowardly little brother Luigi to save the day."

"Okay, I know this is just a silly make believe game, but I have some questions. So let me get this straight, a dude of Italian descent, who probably has a giant pasta gut, and works as a plumber has to save the world? Couldn't they find a better guy to do it? Wouldn't a princess have better guards? What does a turtle monster want with a princess? Is this all a misunderstanding? And why even involve the cowardly little brother? This Luigi guy sounds as if he's a Grade-A loser, so why even include him?"

The ghosts floated there and stared at Todd. "You realize that this is just a game, right? Because you're ruining it. Either way, you get to be Luigi."

Todd scoffed. "Why do I get to be that loser?"

"Because you look like a loser."

"Oh wow, real original material guys. How about we just play with a ball." Todd picked up a dusty ball off the floor from next to a bookshelf before throwing it at a wall, expecting it to bounce back. Instead, a loud crash sounded as the ball flew through a hole in the wall into another room.

"I'll get it," muttered Todd as he glided over to the wall, cursing his bad luck as the children laughed after him. "Why does it have to be me?" Todd asked himself before he froze cold.

The new room felt as if all heat had left it and only had cold within. All around were taxidermy animal heads staring at Todd, their glassy lifeless eyes staring deep into his very being. All around was the inanimate animal carcasses frozen in time from their deaths. But what especially chilled Todd was the table. Not what was on it, but what he saw above it. It was a simple mahogany desk, empty and covered in dust proving disuse for years, but above it was a shadow plastered to the wall. It was a shadow of a knife, but what was truly alarming was that there was nothing in the room casting that shadow. It was existing independently of anything else.

This place was pure evil and Todd had to get out of there. A sudden screech of door hinges caused Todd to scream in pure terror.

"Geez, and everyone else said they could barely get you to react to anything," said an unfamiliar feminine voice.

The shadow was gone before Todd turned, deciding not to say anything about it to the newcomer due to the terrible feeling he was getting inside. The voice belonged to another ghost, a female who had a beautiful and delicate figure. Her blonde hair was glorious and spilled down from her head, perfectly framing her face.

"I don't believe I've ever introduced myself to you. My name's Melody. I heard that the children were messing with you and making you angry."

Todd, still somewhat at a loss from this ghost's beauty practically tripped over himself to respond. "I-I-I didn't mean to get angry!"

Melody giggled. "It's alright. The kids could make the calmest most reserved people angry. But either way, I'm here to take you away from them and save you." Melody did a small curtsey, indicating she had a playful nature, before grabbing Todd's hand and dragging him off again, this time at a much slower pace than the kids.

"Where are we going?" Todd asked after a few seconds of floating along in silence.

"I'm going to show you my music room before you talk to Lydia and Neville. They have requested you talk to them to get any questions answered about us you need, but after dealing with the kids, music is the only way to get you to relax."

At the end of the corridor the two were floating down was a door. It was made of oak wood and had a stain to it. But unlike the rest of the house, this particular door looked well maintained to the point where it almost looked new. Carefully burned onto the surface was small music notes in a pattern on lines- clearly a musical piece.

Melody opened to door to reveal the room, in better condition than the rest of the house, regally decorated with red velvet curtains and a dark wooden floor devoid of decay or scuffs. What was most amazing, however, were the instruments. Many instruments of all shapes and sizes were neatly spread across the floor in rows. Todd stared at all the instruments, as well maintained as the room, in awestruck wonder.

"This place is... amazing!"

"I know," Melody said simply. "I try to keep things clean in here. But let's get to playing. Do you by chance play an instrument?"

Todd stared at Melody with a blank expression on his face. "If I can't remember anything about my previous life, what makes you think I'd remember what instrument I played if I did at all?"

"Touche. But you strike me as either a bass or violin type of guy, so let's see if that works for you."

Melody led Todd to a nice shiny Bass and sat him down in the chair and set a piece of paper containing music notes in his lap. Todd stared at the piece, feeling almost a sense of confidence. Todd's fingers started flying across the strings, playing the piece of music perfectly. Before Todd knew it, he heard a piano start it, playing with him in perfect harmony. The music floated around the room and filled Todd with a feeling of bliss, the small amount of light filtering into the room through the curtains suddenly seeming so much brighter and better. Before he knew it, he had reached the end of the piece and as all good things do, it came to an end.

"Wow," breathed out Todd, amazed at how good he felt.

"Aren't you just full of surprises? Who knew that you knew how to play the bass? And you were good too!"

Todd beamed from ear to ear before settling down after a second. "Yeah that was fun. What was the name of this piece?"

"Mario's anthem."

"Wow, that sounds like that silly Super Mario Brothers game that the kids were trying to get me to play. Is this related or coincidental?"

"Oh no, it's related. In fact, Mario, to our knowledge, is a real person who is still alive."

All of Todd's questions about the game the kids wanted to play came back to him, making his head spin as he tried to make sense of it, before realizing logic might not apply and giving up. After floating in silence for a few seconds, Melody attempted to break the ice that Todd's blank gaze seemed to hold over the room.

"To our knowledge, Mario himself composed and named this, funnily enough."

Todd stared blankely at Melody, still taking her in and committing her every feature to memory. "And why is that funny?" Todd honestly didn't get it, which made him feel a bit bad due to it being clear that Melody was trying really hard to interact with him.

"Well... I guess it's that it seems a bit narcissistic to compose a song and name it after yourself, don't you think?"

Todd let out a small chuckle. "I guess you're right. I mean, why do the heroes always feel a need to build themselves a statue to errect in their own honor? It is kind of funny, really. And the fact that a farfetched story of a tubby guy going out to save a princess from a turtle monster is true is hillarious."

Melody smiled before getting a thoughtful look on her face. "Even though we ourselves have never seen this Mario guy before, I think I saw him in a strange dream of my own once. He was as you described him in the tubby department, and he wore red with a monogrammed hat. He had a bushy mustache that could have used some better care. But the funny thing, is in the dream, he's always getting carried away by non-sentient ghosts, screaming and crying for help. And then a taller man in green, I believe his little brother, came to fight to get his brother back. He looked terrified, yet determined. As if nothing could stop him. He sorta looked like... eh, never mind. It doesn't matter."

Todd smiled gently at Melody. He felt like something was tugging at his brain. He felt as if he had met the green guy before and done something important with him, but the inkling of an idea floated away before Todd's mind could fully grasp it. With Todd's luck, he was probably running this Luigi guy's fanclub in his life, thus making him an even bigger loser than Luigi could ever be!

"I saw a guy in green this morning walking away from a house ino the kingdom. Do you think that was the green guy, Luigi I believe? Though I couldn't see too well, he seemed to be burdened as he walked, as if he had a lot on his mind."

Melody laughed. "That might have been him. Either that, or it's some other schmoe wearing green out there looking depressed. However, considering how few humans there are in the world since our time, I would think that's him. But either way, I think you've calmed enough to go talk to Lydia and Neville."

Todd floated further up from his seat, feeling renewed, yet still slightly apprehensive, but he didn't know why. A simple reassuring look from Melody caused him to loosen up.

"Wow, the kids are right, you do look permanently like a grump!"

"What?" asked Todd defensively, "How did you hear that?"

Melody gave another giggle. "We're in a decaying house, dummy. Not all the walls are very thick anymore."

Todd have her a glare. "How was I supposed to know? And why do you all act like children?"

Melody gained a serious look to her face, sharply contrasting her usual playful look. "Not all of us got to finish growing up before our death. We're more or less stuck here and pranking is what we can do to pass the ages by. You at least got the liberty of growing up and living around others who in turn helped you mature. You may not be able to remember, but at least it remains as a part of who you are."

A look crossed Melody's face, making it look extremely ugly for a second. Todd recognized what it was. She was jealous.

Todd's face softened up as he realized that he was being incredibly insensitive. He may not remember dying and that might make things difficult for him, but Melody and the others, it seemed, could remember every detail of their deaths and that would have to be rough. Far rougher than knowing nothing. After all, ignorance is bliss.

Todd floated closer to Melody. "I'm so sorry, I didn't even realize-"

"It's fine. That's my past and there's nothing you or I could do about it, so let's just leave it be. Sorry for bringing it up."

Todd was about to say something, but a call of Melody's name interrupted him.

"Nana!" Melody's face lit up as she dragged Todd along as she bolted out of the room. "Now Nana is someone you have to meet! She's so warm and caring! Not to mention she's practically a wizard with the ghost cloth she uses to do crafts!"

Todd wondered how someone could still be exciting after living a long time in a decaying house together, but decided to hold his tongue and see what happened. Melody passed through a wall, bringing Todd into a peculiar room. While the decaying state of the room was on par with the rest of the house (except the music room, of course), what was truly eye catching was everything had a sweater on it. And by everything, that means everything. Even the old decaying lamp that clearly was long past functioning, had a long and thin sweater covering it, even complete with little holes for non-existent arms. That definitely got some raised eyebrows from Todd.

Eventually, Todd removed his eyes from the features of the room that truly did embody the name "Nana", and stared at an old ghost in the rocking chair. The transparent form of an old lady had a big smile on her face as she looked at Todd. "It's so nice to have a handsome young man join the family, isn't it Melody?"

Melody gave Todd a jesting smile. "I wish they made glasses for ghosts, because you clearly need them."

Both women chortled for a second as Todd couldn't help but pout a little.

"Why is everyone targeting me?" Todd cried.

The women ignored Todd before Nana cleared her throat. "I invited you to come in because I have something for you, Todd. You like going outside, don't you?"

Todd nodded.

"And of course we can't stay out there too long without risking disappearance, so in order to help you cope, I made you something to wear."

Nana reached behind herself and pulled out a long flowing piece of a dark navy blue fabric, clearly made of real material rather than whatever the ghostly stuff he saw everywhere was made of, whatever that is. Nana placed the fabric in Todd's hands, making Todd realize it was a cloak as he saw a hood and a golden button to keep it closed. The button was a beautiful gold color with a rich luster and an emerald-green lightning bolt touching the inner boundaries of the circle. Todd couldn't help but gasp at the beauty.

"It's... perfect... are you sure it's for me?" Nana gave Todd a nod.

"Go ahead and try it on, dear."

Todd quickly pulled the cloak on and pulled up the hood and buttoned the button and suddenly felt darkness close in on him from all sides inside. Cool, dark, calming, and reassuring darkness.

"It was enchanted by Madame Clairevoya so that it's dark inside at all times and you can travel a bit if you wanted. But I do warn you to not interact with humans... There was a pretty bad accident once that I'd care not to mention and we were involved."

Todd looked at Nana and Melody quizically, but the looks on both their faces very clearly deadpanned "don't ask".

Todd also looked down at what was used as the button on the cloak. "And where did you get this button? The design is amazing!"

Nana laughed. "Oh, it was just an elemental medal that was laying around and we simply-" Nana continued talking, but Todd was no longer paying attention. Something behind Melody caught his eye. It was another shadow existing independently of all else.

XxX

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